Star Wars Day isn’t considered a national holiday, though it often feels it should be, given how many notable Hollywood icons acknowledge and celebrate it. (Not to mention the A+ pun that sparked it all.) One of the biggest sci-fi actors of all time, William Shatner doesn’t seem capable of letting the pop culture observance pass without reminding his millions of geeky followers that Star Trek still reigns supreme.
While plenty of Trekkies enjoy Star Wars, and it’s safe to say debates about franchise superiority aren’t quite as fervent these days as they once were, it’s always fun to see playful razzing taking place between the two fandoms. Shatner is a master at tongue-in-cheek trolling, and put his skills to work informing Star Wars fans who their real father is:
I just want to make things clear… Who’s your Daddy @starwars?Me! ❌⭕️‼️ Daddy Bill pic.twitter.com/ljZ6OPZ8vEMay 4, 2025
The Shat Daddy didn’t go into specifics on what that meant, exactly, , which is fine since the term Shat Daddy has a way of making other subjects seem pointless.
Though if I were to speculate, I’d say he’s referring to the influence that Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek series had on George Lucas during the creation of Star Wars. Lucas shared in an interview for the documentary Trek Nation (via GeekTyrant) that his space opera franchise “stood on the shoulders” of Trek, and that his love for that sci-fi series factored into his creation of Han Solo, Princess Leia and the rest.
While I wouldn’t be so bold as to say upcoming Trek shows we’ll watch with a Paramount+ subscription influence the upcoming Star Wars shows on Disney+, I can see William Shatner’s logic here. If George Lucas was a Trekkie, and admits to the original series was an influence on the trilogy, then it tracks that he’s all of our daddies. I’m not going to be as dramatic as Luke Skywalker and shout It’s not true, but rather move forward and get to know my new daddy better.
And while it’s true that Star Wars definitely dominates at the box office while Star Trek has struggled to provide updates on the next batch of theatrical plans, there are some facts we can’t ignore. For example, even with its stance of diplomacy and working for the greater good, it’s safe to say Starfleet would’ve handled the Empire much better than the Rebel Alliance did.
Also, which franchise had one of its biggest stars actually travel to space, and which franchise only had its star congratulate the aforementioned celebrity for doing so? As one of the few private citizens to have seen Earth from above, It’s hard to deny William Shatner is the “daddy” of sci-fi fans.
All jokes aside, there’s nothing wrong with loving Star Wars more than Star Trek, or the other way around, or loving them both equally. The important thing is that both franchises are arguably the strongest they’ve ever been in their runs, and both played a role in making “being geeky” a mainstream personality trait these days. You don’t need a paternity test to prove that, though If William Shatner was actually saying he was my father I would probably ask for one.
Nearly all things Star Wars-related are available to stream with.a Disney+ subscription, while Star Trek‘s character reign supreme over on Paramount+.
